A Thing Tossed Aside (formerly known as 'Untitled'
by ChocoCream2
Summary: Thanks to Vickie211 for the name! : ) Full of symbolism... Do not blame me if you don't understand. Rated PG for a tiny bit of violence at the end... My first ACTUAL Pocket Monster fic... the other ones don't count they were completely meaningless.


Disclaimer: Unless I am a thirty five year old man named Satoshi Tajiri,  
I do not own Pocket Monsters, or any affiliate of Pocket Monsters, minus   
the miniature Hitokage shrine in my room. : ) I was not paid nor encouraged  
by Nintendo, Game Freak, SNES, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, etc to write this story,  
and I am not receiving anything for it, except maybe some reviews (hint hint).  
The following piece is meant for fan appreciation only.   
  
A.N.: I have no idea what inspired me to write this. All I know is that   
I was sitting at a mall one day and my pen made me do it. : ) If anyone   
has anything I can call this, I'm open to all suggestions. Also, I used the  
Japanese names for effect... please bear in mind that there is a lot of   
symbolism in this story. Enjoy!  
  
~~~  
  
  
  
Satoshi.  
  
Just thinking of his name gave me an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach,   
a longing, for him to come back into my life. I needed him.  
  
I leaned back into the plush vinyl drivers' seat of my convertable, and   
stared up at the winter night sky. The sun had set several long hours ago,   
and the meagre light from the stars and moon above were all that illuminated   
the night sky. I knew that they must have a tremendous amont of energy, for   
they were seen even by my eyes, billions and billions of miles away. Satoshi   
was like that. Even though he was physically no where near, I could still   
feel part of him lingering in me. He was truly unforgettable.  
  
I remembered, there was a time when we were inseperable, as close as best   
friends could be. Back then I believed Satoshi and I would be together for   
ever, the best of friends for ever, until the end of time. God, I was almost   
as naive as he was.   
  
It was his simple naiveness that had made me love him in the first place.   
With his sweet and gentle nature, I knew he was going to go far as an elite   
trainer. How he managed to stay innocent and kind all his life, even in such   
a cruel world, I'll never know. I doubt being poor was easy to deal with.   
Maybe his mothers' love kept him going strong. Real love. Unlike what my   
parents had for me... they just bought my love with objects like this car.   
I didn't even know where they were.  
  
Of course, I shared whatever I had with him, but I suspect he was happier   
just sitting in my room and watching Pokémon programs on television, while   
I looked in books and read aloud about any interesting new pocket monsters   
we saw. (In the books and on TV of course, since neiter of us were permitted   
to leave Marasa Town.) On rare occasions, Grandpa would show us his   
fushigidane, hitokage, zenigame and ivui, and let us help him with his   
research.   
  
I remembered Satoshi liked to state the obvious a lot. He would say things   
like, "Oh! Look, it's a Hitokage", "The phone's ringing", "May's calling for  
us.". At that point, we would run downstairs to my kitchen and smell the   
delicious pies my older sister had baked for us. Poor Satoshi. I knew he   
had a crush on her. He was always terrible at lying.  
  
* * *  
  
I must have fallen asleep, for the next thing I knew, I was woken up by   
the chirping of what sounded like poppos nearby. Very rudely awoken, I   
might add. Perhaps, a long time ago, when I still had Satoshi, I might've   
thought their song was beautiful. But not any more. Now all it did was   
remind me of what, of who I had lost: Satoshi, my best friend, life long   
confidant, like the brother I never had. I decided I needed to go somewhere   
quiet to think, away from the annoying birds.   
  
I went on foot; the car engine was too loud. The snow crunched beneath my   
boots as I walked. It was cold out, but I didnt' mind, despite the thin shirt  
that I wore. Bare soil poked out from the snow hear and there, a bit of the   
summer lingering behind, a piece of the spring that was yet to come. I bent   
down, and sifted some through my fingers. It was moist from the meltwater,   
which caused it to stick to my hand. I was reminded once again of Satoshi.   
He couldn't enter someones' life without touching their lives forever; he   
always left a part of him with them. He was always the center of attention,   
and I envied him for that. I felt he had it better than me, he had his mom   
to take care of him and love him. Sure, I had May and Grandpa... a grand-  
father who gave me a last name and a father, nothing more... the same   
grandfather who couldn't even remember my name.  
  
I was plain jealous. I wanted to universe to revolve around ME for once. I   
had hoped to achieve this by becoming the worlds' greatest pocket monster   
master, and someday an even better researcher than my grandpa. I needed to be  
quicker, smarter, wittier than Satoshi could ever be. I wanted to show the   
world that I could be even better than him. This was the biggest mistake of   
my life. I ended up pushing him away, more than I intended to do. I let him  
come to my house less and less; I stopped going to his completely. That   
blessid soul, he forgave me for that. He believed it was my ambition talking,   
and that I was just studying pokémon. I resorted to assaulting him with   
verbal insults to boost my self esteem. I laughed in his face when he poured   
his heart out to me about becoming a pokémaster. That did it. He knew me   
well enought to know that I hadn't meant it, and gave me space.   
Too much space, too long.  
  
The next time I saw him was when he went to throw that rat pikachu in the   
Masara woods. I bragged about the superball, and the pokétrainer license my   
grandpa had gotten for me. I boasted about the ivui I had received.  
  
I had hurt him. He defiantly told me he'd become the greatest pokémaster   
ever, just I wait and see. He stormed away from me, struggling to hold the   
squirimg yellow thing in his arms.   
  
May had called me on my celluar phone later that day to inform me that Satoshi  
had taken the trainers' test and had earned his license also. She wondered   
why I wasn't there with him, and I had changed the subject; I didn't want to   
think about him, and avoided it when possible. I avoided him physically by   
staying a step (okay, maybe a few) of him the whole way. I amost regret   
treating him this way. Almost.  
  
Almost, for if I hadn't, I would still be taking him for granted, and not have  
learnt to appreciate him as much as I did now.  
  
I wondered where he was now. I knew he had fulfilled his dream of becoming   
League Campion. He had battled and defeated the Elite Four, all four of them:  
Lorelei, Bruno, Agatha, Lance, and the former Champion... me. After winning,   
he had abdicated his position to continue training his pokémon. He had done   
it. Even after all that I had done within my power to stop him, he had proved  
himself better than me, he had managed to climb above me, higher than anyone   
else. I let out a sigh and started to jog back to where my car was parked.   
Forget jogging. I ran full speed.  
  
Although in shape, I was breathing hard by the time I reached it, air coming   
and going in shallow breaths. I needed Satoshi like I needed oxygen.   
  
I drove back to a city near our home town. The place was surrounded by a blue   
aura, the fog was so thick. I had only been there a few times myself, but   
everything was still fresh in my mind. I headed in the direction where the   
Gym was. Being a Gym Leader myself, I was required by the League Officials   
to know exactly where each of the seven preceeding gyms were located. No   
trainer without those Badges could challenge me; they were simply not worthy   
opponents.  
  
I slipped inside and closed the door behind me, and it clicked shut. I heard   
splashes from within.   
  
"Who goes there? A challenger?" An older girl stood infront of me, her   
blonde hair so long she could probably sit on it if she wanted to. I   
recognized her immediately.   
  
"Sakura--" I began, but she cut me off with a wave of her hand. She tilted   
her head toward the back of the building. I understood. Thanking her, I   
sidestepped her and continued on, but I was interupted once again.  
  
"Care to battle, sugah?" Diana. Obviously, she didn't remember me. I shook   
my head no, and produced the GreenBadge from my back pocket. She swam away.  
  
At the very back of aquatic Gym, I found yet another pool, this one by far the  
largest. A redhead (orangehead?) in a black two piece swim suit stood on a   
diving platform I estimated to be approximately thirty feet above the surface   
of the water below. Raising her slender arms above her head, the young woman   
held them poised there for a moment, as she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.   
Her chest rose and fell as she breathed in and out, in and out, while the rest  
of her body remained perfectly still. Ever so slightly, she raised a bended   
knee, brought back down her foot forcefully, and bounced once, twice, thrice,   
and on the third time, she threw herself forward. She opened her eyes and saw   
me, and her mouth opened in surprise. Her concentration was lost, for in the   
next moment, she let out a high-pitched squeal, arms and legs flailing   
miserably about. With no time to recover, the girl hit the water, and I was   
drentched from head to toe.  
  
All the while, I stood where I was, arms folded across my chest. My entire   
body shook as I chuckled silently. I had to bite my lip to keep from bursting  
out laughing hysterically.   
  
She broke the surface of the water, gasping for air.   
  
"Shigeru Ookido, you had better not laugh at me!" Still the same bossy voice,   
the same bossy girl it belonged to. Good old Kasumi.  
  
She slipped through the water like some legendary sea creature, and stood up   
at the edge of the pool. She was still at beautiful as she had been when I   
last saw her, maybe even more so. It was enough to turn any young mans' head.   
However, I had seen Satoshi and Kasumi together, and I knew if I ever wanted   
him to talk to me again, I had to keep my hands off her.  
  
I grabbed a towel off a rack for her, and we sat on the edge of the pool.   
Taking off my shoes and socks, I lowered my feet in the water. The hem of my   
pants got completely soaked, but I didn't mind. She sat next to me and   
wiggled her toes, causing a ripple in the water as she did so. She suddenly   
let out a giggle.  
  
"What's so funny?" I turned to face her. A mysterious glint in her eyes were  
accompanied by a michievious grim. Uh oh.  
  
"This." Kasumi pushed herself off the ledge of the pool, taking me into the   
water with her, clothes and all. She let out a joyous laugh... one that I   
hadn't heard for many, too many long years. It felt good to see her again.  
  
A tuggin on my neck brought my attention back to the present. In the palm   
her hand, she held the medallion I always wore around my neck. Her other hand   
was delicately fingering it. Green. His favorite color.  
  
"I remember when Satoshi gave this to you," she whispered softly, as if she   
were afraid to remember. It was a memory I had pushed out of my mind myself.   
He had given it to me for my tenth birthday. Kasumi had been there too. (She  
was a couple of years old than us and had already established the title of   
assistant Gym Leader to her three sisters, and was allowed to leave Hanada   
City.) I looked down. She was still staring at the thing.  
  
"Sumi-chan," She snapped out of her trance. "Do you know where he is? I   
have to talk to him."  
  
***  
  
Once Kasumi had told me all that I needed to know, I hoisted myself out of the   
pool, and started to pull on my socks and shoes.  
  
"What are you doing?" I ignored her question. It seemed pretty obvious to   
me.   
  
I stood up and ran to the door; she was right behind me.  
  
"God, you'll freeze to death!" So. She was worried about me.  
  
"Hai. So what?" I was surprised she didn't understand, understand what I   
had to do, what I had to accomplish. "If I don't find him I'm already dead   
in here anyway!" I jabbed my thumb at my chest, my heart. Realizing that   
I meant what I had said, she pulled me close to her and hugged me something   
fierce. When I finally pulled away from her, I saw that her green eyes were   
brimming with tears, which threatened to spill over onto her pretty cheeks.   
Her hair was starting to dry now, and it was becoming quite-- well, poofy.   
No wonder she kept it tied up all the time. She wrapped her towel around my   
shoulders.   
  
"You'll be careful." It wasn't meant to be question. It was more of a, no,   
it WAS a command, an order, something I had to listen to and follow. Just   
like I had to follow my heart.  
  
I gave her my trademark two-finger victory-sigh salute to show that I would,   
and I ran outside... and I suddenly felt very much alone. The wind howled   
and penetrated my damp clothes, and I vaguely remember shivering. It was   
almost dark now. Ho hos hooted their nocturnal call to one another. Reaching   
behind me, I pulled out the first pokéball my fingers touched.  
  
"Go, Pigeott!" Perfect. Just large enough for me to sit on. Or in my case,   
fly on. "Victory Road," I directed. "Silver Cave awaits." The huge bird   
lifted its' massive wings, flapped them repeatedly, and began to rise in the   
air. At the high altitude, it was even colder In fact, it was freezing. My   
wet hair froze, and the towel prevented my clothes from drying. I immediately   
regretted not using my fudins teleport ability. Shivering, I pulled out my   
phone out of my pocket. Fortunately for me, it was the best money could buy.   
More importantly, it was waterproof. I hit one of the speed-dial buttons.   
"Grandpa, I'm calling in a favor."  
  
***  
  
Pigeotts' wings ceased to move beneath my knees as it dived and prepared   
for landing. Impating, I jumped off the gigantic bird pokémon. Luckily,   
a bush broke my fall, (gee, how coincidential, of all the places it could've   
been, it had to be right there) but not before tearing clothing and scratching   
almost every inch of exposed skin. I crawled out of the plant, and attempted   
to brush away broken twigs and leaves that were entangled in my hair and   
clothes. I quickly gave up.  
  
After recalling my Pigeott and re-attaching the miniscule sphere to my belt,   
I stepped through an entrance. A security guard stopped me from going further.   
He looked at me with utmost curiousity, and I wasn't surprised. I knew I   
looked a complete mess. Upon presenting my pokédex with my identification,   
he let me pass. I was glad Grandpa had remembered to call.  
  
I went through a short corridor and found myself outside again. This time I   
was more careful and chose my fudin, and used its' teleport ability. I   
apparated in a dark place, and mentally kicked myself. I had nothing that   
knew flash... but someone, or something else there did.   
  
"Chuu!!!" So. It was that rat, his rat.  
  
I gave my eyes time to adjust to the new light. He stood there before me,   
hand held ready behind him, ready to pull out recruits for his pikachu if   
needed, which I greatly doubted. The little furry thing scamped acutely onto   
his hat. I remembered that hat. Oh, how he had wanted it for so long,   
constantly whining to me about it. It was almost amusing how little things   
in life could satisfy him so easily.  
  
He relaxed slightly when he recognized me. (I thought so anyway, I was   
still quite blinded.) The mouse squinted it's eyes at me, and I saw the   
unmistakable look of hate. I didn't blame him; he had only known the jealous,  
vain, evil side of me if you will. Sparks emitted from the electric pouches   
in its' cheeks, preparing to release an electric attack. It was just awaiting   
further instruction from its' trainer.  
  
"It's alright, Pikachu."  
  
Okay, so I was wrong. Even the most well trained pokémon disobey their   
trainers sometimes. It was I was wet and helpless to defend myself, and   
couldn't resist the temptation to shock me. My fudin foresaw it coming,   
and instinctively drew up a physical shield around us. The thunder attack   
rebounded off the barrier, which was not designed to absorb the impact. I   
was picked up and thrown backward against the inside wall of the cave like   
a rag doll a child had carelessly tossed aside... like how I had thrown away   
the friendship we had. I hit the stone hard. I could almost hear my bones   
fracturing from the impact. After sliding down a height of quite some   
distance, I sat, slumped over on the ground, semi-concious. I coughed up   
something red. Blood.  
  
And everything went black.  
  
~~~  
A.N.: I'm really sorry to leave a cliff hanger, but I really didn't know  
how to finish or continue this story... If you guys really want, I guess I   
could write a sequel..... Did you guys like it? There wasn't TOO much   
symbolism, was there? If you didn't understand it, you can email me at   
lil_mutant@yahoo.com, and I will gladly explain.  
  
Lotsa love, Jeanette Lockhart, Insane™ "psychic" hitokage Pokémon Masteress 


End file.
